Dudley as you may or may not know was the runt of the litter. She has always been a very submissive girl and when ever she meets other dogs it is straight on her back :rolleyes:

Anyway over the last few months her behaviour towards other dogs has changed to the fact whenever she meets other dogs she starts to growl. It is not an agressive growl more like a low level warning growl.

She is like this normally on the lead but has also shown this behaviour off the lead but not so much as on the lead.

She is the softest sweetest girl normally and used to love meeting other dogs

She is ok with dogs she knows well especially her boyfriend Dillon who she loves and has never shown any agression towards him :D

I just wonder if this has anything to do with the change in her since Min went as she was the bottom of the pile of 3 so when Min went Moose took over as pack leader so could this explain her change now being second in line that may be the cause in her behaviour change maybe ?

Also another very strange thing she has displayed is walking past a certain high wall she starts to freak out. We have walked past this wall many times and she has never done this before. It started about a month ago ? She literally stands still and won't budge. I have to walk on the road rather than the pavement to get her to walk ?

Any ideas ??

Thanks

Lucy
xx

Is she a terrier by any chance?  As this is a very common terrier behaviour, it is nothing at all to do with her becoming more dominant, she is in fact doing it through fear, it is kind of I'm warning you off, before you get to me first, no doubt she will roll on her back the minute a dog is close enough to her.

My mum's terrier has always been this way and she has tried many ways to get it to stop, alas she has got nowhere.

As to the wall, is it possible for you to pick her up and let her see over the wall that there is nothing there, or does she perhaps see a shadow? She is obviously at the age of feeling fearful and more alert to dangers.

In both instances all you can do is keep reasuring her, when she is barking at an approaching dog, sit her down and gently stroke her telling her everything is ok and give her a treat if she stops barking.

It is possible as I know a Westie who was broken out of this submissive barking behaviour. It did take a while to do it though, so keep working on it.

If she is anything like my mum's dog though....:rolleyes:

No, Dudley's a labrador.

I think the change in the natural order since Min died will have a lot to do with this.

Yes I think so as well but she seems to be getting worse. I am trying to distract her and make sure we meet and greet as many dogs rather than avoiding the situation.

Min used to take full control of the two of them and knew how to put them in place. Moose is top dog but not top enough and doesn't know how to put her in her place when Duds gets too over the top. I have to step in as Dud's pushes the boundaries sometimes :rolleyes:

Have been working on OH that we need to get another puppy to solve this one :D

He has said ok but wants a GD

Just had a chat with a lovely woman outside our local shop who was surprised on two things.

I knew what a Welsh Spaniel was and also that FCR are prone to cancer :)

She had a lovely although timid WS 8 month old and had lost a FCR at 8 :(

Can you remind us how old Dudley is? :)

If a youngster, they can go through a phase at about 8 months ish when they can get very wary of things they have already "met" - a table or chair or something...my girl had just  a few wary days of fishermen near us on walks and got very freaked out. We let her have a good look and then encouraged her to carry on with us. Is that the sort of thing do you think, or something different?

I'd imagine Min going would affect her in some way too :)

Lindsay
x

Duds is 3  so not a teenager :D

Oh right, blows that idea out of the water then :P

Oh, just a thought, it does sound very much to do with your Min passing on, but, if problems continue with her standing and staring at things, it may be worth just getting her eyes checked out in case. Also, long shot but hypothyroid can cause some strange behaviours - but if it all happened after Min went I'd go along with the view that that's what the problem is. Hope things get sorted out Ok! :)

Lindsay
x

I wonder if Dudley relied on Min to take charge of things?  And that she feels more exposed without her?

I took on a dog that had previously lived with a very "in charge" sort of bitch (not that I'm saying Min was like that, don't get me wrong) and I was told he had no problems with other dogs.  From the first morning I had him, he would bark at strange dogs in the distance and seems anxious around some other dogs to me.  I think previously he had relied on his "in charge" pal to sort out doggy greetings for him and feels a bit sort of exposed without her.  Could Dudley be experiencing something along those lines and not sure of her new role?

Fortunately, after his early warning, he will walk beside me past the other dogs or greet, albeit cautiously, if allowed.

Might be a complete red herring but it is something I have been wondering about for a while.

Duds adored Min :)

You could see she genuinely missed her and tried to then make the same attachment with Moose but it just isn't the same hence why maybe she is the way she is at the moment.

Lucy
xx

The situation has got worse :(

She is now doing all out aggressive lunge attacks :rolleyes:

I try and make her sit if I see a dog ahead which she does but as soon as they get near she goes for them :rolleyes:  She has done a really bad one today and it really upset me and need to nip this one in the bud as soon as possible. I don't want her to be known and an unsocialble dog as she is far from it as at every other time she is a sweet loving girl  :)

Help please anybody ?

Lucy
xx

Lucy - relax!   I know it's easier said than done - but I do think that especially now, Duds is picking up on the fact that with your poorly back, you haven't had the same sort of "lead" control that you would usually have had.   Like you, I do think that it all goes back to losing your pack leader - we had the same thing here, you will remember.

It may well be that Dudley will become the dominant one - especially once you get your puppy :D - and Moose will happily slip back into her No 2 role.

I had to take Vinnie out on her own - and when I saw another dog - before she did - I started on the "look at me" line - and treated her for looking at me and not looking at the other dog.    She will still try occasionally - but is more likely to sit and look at me - and demand the treat now ;)

Its as if she feels that she ought to be protecting me ..... and that's probably what Dudley is doing as well - blow the fact that she has known the other dog for yonks.   She may sense that in some way you are more "vulnerable" just now.

Chin up ducky!!!   If necessary, I'll come over with my "aggressive girlie" too - and lets see what they make of each other :D

Margot x

You know it may well be that I have ben taking them out in the car over the last few months as couldn't lead walk them so have been taking them to off road walks. :rolleyes: This is the first time in months we have been out on a long walk :)

She has also become very attached to me to the point of being my shadow :rolleyes: I can't go any where with out her glued to my side :rolleyes: It is my fault I suppose :rolleyes:

Yes perhaps a meet with Vinnie may do her the power of good :D :D

She needs a good telling of as Moose is as useless as a chocolate teapot :D

When I am back to normal ( as far as I ever will be :D ) I will do some training with her on this to see if I can stop the behaviour :)

Can I add, Lucy - don't be tempted to get a puppy before you have this problem well and truly sorted (got the T-shirt :( ). We sorted a lot of Tara's problems (with people rather than dogs) by using the 'look at me' command reinforced with a treat in the earlier stages. Fortunately, Tara carries her football around with now and we hardly ever have a problem now :D

Good luck :)

Daisy

That has given me an idea thanks Daisy as she does like to carry a tennis ball around with her so may try that when I am able to start walking them again :)